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Cosi

Top End students will get a theatrical look inside a psychiatric facility at Brown’s Mart Theatre’s latest education program production, Cosi.

By Tamara Howie

More than 760 students will see the famous Australian play, loosely based on playwright Louis Nowra’s own life, which explores ideas of friendship, romance, infidelity and our perception of madness and sanity.

Directed by Gail Evans, the play is set in 1971 when Australia is protesting against the war in Vietnam. Inside an asylum, inmates are preparing for a performance of Mozart’s famous comic opera, Così fan tutte, even though no one can sing, act or speak Italian.

Brown’s Mart artistic director Sean Pardy says it’s a great opportunity for students to see the texts they’re studying in the classroom come to life on stage.

“There is something special about live performance, something that you can’t capture when reading a script, or even watching a film,” he says.

This is the fifth year the Brown’s Mart education program has presented a syllabus-linked production, giving students the opportunity to not only see the play they’re studying on the stage, but to also encourage an appreciation of the performing arts.

Pardy says it’s also a captivating show for any theatre-lovers, not just the ones with their noses in the script at school.

“Audiences will benefit greatly from seeing the live performance, the nuances of the characters, the subtle twists in the plot. The themes and hidden meanings of the text are all brought to life by the ensemble,” he says.

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